Legal challenge puts recent ruling to the test

CONTACT:
Connease Warren, Abolitionist Law Center, 713-304-8990, connease@alcenter.org

PHILADELPHIA—Cecil Holmes, Lori Lassiter, John Payne, and Marsha Scaggs filed King’s Bench petitions today requesting that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court take immediate action and declare that its historic decision striking down mandatory life without parole sentences for felony murder applies retroactively. The filings come nearly six months after the Court’s landmark ruling in Commonwealth v. Derek Lee where the Court found mandatory life without parole for felony murder was a cruel punishment in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution. A person can be convicted under Pennsylvania law of felony murder, a second-degree murder charge, merely by being involved in a felony during which a death occurs.

These four Petitioners are among more than 1,100 people sentenced to die in prison for felony murder convictions under a sentencing scheme that the Court declared unconstitutional. The petitioners are represented pro bono by Abolitionist Law Center, Pennsylvania Innocence Project, and Phillips Black.

While the Lee ruling could be a ray of hope for over 1,100 Pennsylvanians and their families, the months since have been beset with questions and uncertainty about the path forward. When it struck down Mr. Lee’s sentence, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court declined to say whether or not its ruling applied retroactively for other people convicted of second-degree murder. The Court stayed Mr. Lee’s resentencing proceedings for 120 days to give the legislature time to pass a bill in response to its ruling. That 120 days expired on July 24 without legislative action. Now, Mr. Holmes, Ms. Lassiter, Mr. Payne, and Ms. Scaggs petition for a ruling to apply the Lee decision retroactively so that hundreds more can seek resentencing in the trial courts.

“It would mean everything to come home,” said petitioner Lori Lassiter. “I am wordless. I can’t even fathom what it could mean. It would mean reuniting with my daughter. Really, it would mean peace.”

The King’s Bench power gives the Supreme Court the ability to act in urgent matters of public importance. “There are more than 1,100 people serving an illegal, cruel sentence of death by incarceration for felony murder. Such a mass injustice is a Constitutional crisis that requires prompt action by the Supreme Court,” said Bret Grote, Legal Director for Abolitionist Law Center.

A 2025 report found that more than 18% of people in Pennsylvania’s prisons were older than 55 years of age, reflecting the impact of death by incarceration sentences in creating an increasingly geriatric prison population. Of the more than 1,100 convicted of felony murder in Pennsylvania, approximately 500 people are over 55 years old and 250 people are over 65. Many, like the petitioners, have already served decades in prison for offenses that occurred in their youth. Roughly 500 people have been incarcerated for at least 30 years already; more than 200 have served more than 40 years. The aging prison population has created a humanitarian crisis behind bars.

“Cecil Holmes is one of many sick and elderly people serving illegal mandatory life sentences,” said attorney Jennifer Merrigan of Phillips Black. “His family desperately wants the chance to take care of him. We hope that the court will treat his case with the urgency that it deserves.”

In striking down Derek Lee’s mandatory life without parole sentence the Court recognized that “[felony] murder covers a wide variety of conduct and varying culpability for a killing,” further noting that felony murder “is somewhat of an anomaly” since there is no requirement that the defendant had any intent to take a life in order to be convicted of the offense.

“In fact, we see clients convicted of felony or second-degree murder because jurors are unsure of the client’s role in a killing and view it as a lesser charge, while—unknown to them—it carries a life without parole sentence,” said Zane Memeger, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. “Without new sentencing guidance from the legislature, the Supreme Court needs to act now. Our clients deserve to have their cases heard individually so that their actual role in a crime and their personal circumstances can be taken into account. Indeed, we believe the courts will find many deserve to come home.”

None of the 1,100 people serving this sentence in Pennsylvania had any individualized hearing due to the mandatory nature of their life without parole sentences.

Today’s King’s Bench petition can bring real hope to people serving unconstitutional life sentences. If the Pennsylvania Supreme Court takes this case it will set the stage for a ruling that will result in legal relief – and an opportunity to come home – for more than 1,100 people unconstitutionally sentenced to die in prison.

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The Abolitionist Law Center is a public interest law firm inspired by the struggle of political and politicized prisoners, and organized for the purpose of abolishing class- and race-based mass incarceration in the United States. Abolitionist Law Center litigates on behalf of people whose human rights have been violated in prison, educates the public about the evils of mass incarceration, and works to develop a mass movement against the American punishment system by building alliances and nurturing solidarity across social divisions. Follow @AbolitionistLC on Facebook and Instagram. 

Phillips Black is a nonprofit, public interest law practice dedicated to providing the highest quality of legal representation to incarcerated individuals in the United States sentenced to the law’s severest penalties. Phillips Black further contributes to the rule of law by consulting with counsel, conducting post-conviction clinical training, and developing research on the criminal legal system. Follow @PhillipsBlackLaw on Instagram.

The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is the only statewide organization working to exonerate those convicted of crimes they did not commit. We provide free legal representation to the wrongfully convicted, provide reentry services to freed and exonerated people, and advocate for systemic change to address the root causes of wrongful convictions. Follow @innocencePA across social media platforms.